1994
The science fiction television series Earth 2 premieres on the NBC television network with the episode “First Contact, Part 1″. In the episode, a group of humans leave the space stations in Earth orbit to travel to a planet twenty-two light years away named “G889″ in hopes of making a better life for sick children afflicted with an illness known only as “the syndrome.” The series follows an advance team that attempts to prepare a new colony for the remaining families that are scheduled to arrive twenty-six months later after their craft crash-lands. The series will run for one season of twenty-two episodes, until June 4, 1995. TV.com entry
1995
3dfx Interactive releases Voodoo, the first consumer 3D graphic accelerator, capable of rendering relatively complex scenes in real time and in hi-resolution. QuakeGL (a GL port of Quake) will be the first popular game utilizing this new technology. Other games will soon follow, including Tomb Raider.
The U.S. Air Force launches its most powerful unmanned rocket, Titan 4, carrying a one billion dollar Milstar communications satellite for the Defense Department.
1998
Hacker Rajib Mitra is convicted of hacking into the University of Iowa and University of Wisconsin. He will later be sentenced to eight years in prison for jamming emergency radio bands during graduate school.
Scientists report the first successful culture of human stem cells in the course of research financed by Geron Corporation. Visit the official Geron Corporation website.
Tony Hsieh and Sanjay Madan, cofounders of LinkExchange, cooperatively announce that LinkExchange has joined the Microsoft network of Internet services.
The three millionth domain name (lizzybee.com) is registered.
1999
United States President William Clinton launches the consumer.gov website as part of a comprehensive campaign to fight telephone fraud.
2000
The European Commission contracts with a consortium of thirty national research networks for the development of GÉANT, Europe’s new gigabit research network meant to enhance the current capability provided by the TEN-155. Visit the network’s official website.
Warner Bros. releases the science fiction film Red Planet, directed by Antony Hoffman and starring Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss, Benjamin Bratt, and Tom Sizemore, to 2,703 U.S. theaters. Astronauts searching for a solution to save a dying Earth from severe pollution and overpopulation on Mars suddenly find themselves struggling to survive. Among the most notable features of the film is the computer generated robot, AMEE. Produced on a budget of US$80 million, it will gross US$8,721,296 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 46 mins
2001
The first issue of Official Xbox Magazine is published in the U.S. The magazine is published thirteen times a year and covers topics relating to the Xbox video game console. Visit the magazine’s official website.
GNUnet, a free software framework for decentralized, peer-to-peer networking written in C, is first published. The framework offers link encryption, peer discovery, and resource allocation. Visit the application’s official website.
2002
Apple Computer releases upgraded models of its iBook and PowerBook lines of computers. The new systems feature faster processors, more powerful graphics controllers, and the Mac OS X 10.2 “Jaguar” operating system. The new iBooks come equipped with ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 graphics controllers standard.
The Star Trek: Enterprise episode “The Seventh” first airs. (No. 207) In it, T’Pol is reactivated as an intelligence agent and assigned to apprehend a fugitive. During the mission, a dark secret from her past is revealed, shattering her emotional control. Memory Alpha entry
2004
The Ansari X Prize, worth US$10 million, is awarded to Burt Rutan and Paul Allen of Mojave Aerospace Ventures and their SpaceShipOne at a trophy at ceremony in St. Louis, Missouri. To win the prize, vehicles had to be privately financed and constructed, able fly to an altitude of 100 kilometers with three passengers, and reuse the vehicle twice within a two-week period. Twenty-one teams from five countries registered to compete.
2006
Microsoft announced that AVG Security products will be available directly from the Windows Security Center in Windows Vista.
Version 7.0 of the iMesh filesharing application is released. The version expands the application into a social networking system. Visit the official iMesh website.
2008
United States President elect Barack Obama names Google’s Sonal Shah and Julius Genachowski to his transition team advisory board.
2009
Universal Pictures releases the science fiction film The Box, directed by Richard Kelly and starring Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, and Frank Langella, to 2,635 U.S. theaters. It is based on the 1970 short story “Button, Button” by Richard Matheson, which was famously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone. Produced on a budget of US$35 million, the film will gross US$7,571,417 domestically in its opening weekend. Official website“>Visit the film’s official website. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 56 mins
Warner Brothers releases the science fiction film The Fourth Kind, directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi and starring Milla Jovovich, to 2,527 U.S. theaters. Produced on a budget of US$10 million, it will gross US$12,231,160 domestically in its opening weekend. IMDB listing (MPAA Rating: PG-13) Running Time: 1 hr 38 mins
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